issue no. 28

personal space

I’ve been thinking a lot about personal space lately. Living in a city like NY with four people under one roof, sharing one bathroom (yikes), it is impossible not to. We sacrifice space daily in exchange for opportunity, access, culture, meaning, + perhaps relevance – to live in a place that is never not part of the conversation.

As we squeeze ourselves onto crowded trains, ugly cry on buses, and plead with our tantrum-throwing children on busy sidewalks (exposing all our parental shortcomings), perhaps what we really seek is a glimpse into the fullest expression of what it means to be human.

So much of our lives is dictated by the spaces we inhabit. How, where + when we’ll eat, get ready for the day (see sharing a bathroom with 3 other people), do work/homework, sleep, + even get intimate. Our spaces impact all that we do!

However, how we plan our own personal spaces is completely up to us. While outstanding circumstances (budget, layouts, roommates, family dynamics, culture, square footage, etc.) certainly play a role, what we bring into our homes is a choice - a remark on how we truly see ourselves.

When I was young, our home was defined by many things, but perhaps the most vivid were two large photographs placed perfectly on our living room wall. My parents weren’t ones to invest in art, unless you count school photos, so these stood out to me. I was too young to know or care about their significance or how important art was, but there they sat- a totally defining presence in my comprehension of home.

Decades later + long after my parents’ divorce, my dad graciously handed them over to me. Same frames with the wire in the back still intact. Now they hang in my own home, severely faded + possibly etching memories into my own children’s minds.

The photos are of Surrounding Islands, the environmental art installation completed by Christo + Jeanne Claude in 1983. The pink-wrapped islands located off the shores of Miami bring me back to my childhood in a myriad of ways. I grew up 20 minutes north of these beautifully cloaked islands. Biscayne Bay was a household name.

My dad, an accountant at WTVJ Miami- the same news channel that covered the story, had acquired these beauties when he took over a vacant office. But when I look at these, what rushes to mind is walking that path from the living room to my bedroom, my ultimate place of refuge. I passed these images so often, never fully registering the impact they would have.

So, whether it’s a photograph that taps into a part of us the outside world may never know, a fabric that embodies the tenderness we strive for, the glitter-encrusted table that serves as a reminder of just how quickly they grow up, let’s be thoughtful.

Maybe it’s the closet that houses our spectrum of identities from professional to fun-loving, the lamp with its warm glow that asks, “Is there anything more romantic than nostalgia?”. Perhaps it’s the tapestries that hang, offering a glimpse into our heritage + reminding us we’re not alone, or the books that inspire us to become the best: painter, writer, musician, mother, human, athlete, friend.

Or maybe it’s simply a paint color that is warm + inviting - a welcome contradiction to the cold, harsh winter that lurks behind the door. No matter what it is, let it be yours + let it be intentional.

“The materials around us will speak to us of the highest hopes we have of ourselves.”

- Alain de Botton

Whether conscious or not, what we surround ourselves with inevitably represents how we feel about ourselves. So, if we want to hold the ideal + most fully expressed versions of ourselves accountable, what should we consider when creating our personal environment? Because at the end of the day, we are all Designers.

Want a space that represents your highest aspirational self?